Alice Mcgaw

Running header : ALICE MCGAW

Alice McGaw : Mother of Anesthesia

ABSTRACT

The field of Nurse Anesthesia would not be as advanced today but for the achievements of certain women in the field . One of these women was Alice McGaw , who worked tirelessly to perfect the specialty of nurse anesthetist . It was her advancements in the application of open drop inhalation anesthetic that paved the way for others to follow . It was her showcasing her methods to others that encouraged them to use what she had learned in their own practices . She wrote

five s on her work that showed her methods were proven to work and had a high success rate

Alice McGaw : Mother of Anesthesia

Nurses were the first professional group to practice anesthesia services in the United States . This started 125 years ago and little was known about anesthesia back then . One of the most famous nurse anesthetists was Alice McGraw . She was to be given the name Mother of Anesthesia ' for her expert application of anesthesia during surgery and her many published works regarding the procedure

Nurse anesthetists were pioneers in their field . Surgeons began seeking them out to help with anesthesia during surgery because they could provide undivided attention to the patient . The earliest records establish the beginning of nurse anesthetists in 1887 . Since then , they have been instrumental in continuing improve anesthetic techniques and equipment

Although formal education for nurse anesthetists was not made available until 1909 , it is the earlier nurse anesthetists who paved the way for safe anesthesia and opened door to this specialty for nurses Patients reported less discomfort and the surgeons reported fewer deaths due to trauma during operations

Currently Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNA ) are licensed professional nurses who go through extensive training after receiving their Registered Nurse (RN ) degree . This is considered a specialized field and requires nurses to become board certified through a state exam before being able to practice as a CRNA

The purpose of this study was to inform and educate about the women in nursing who lead the way in development and application of anesthesia . Alice McGaw is little known to mainstream society and yet she provided some of the most comprehensive studies to this profession She also spent her life as a practicing nurse anesthetist and earned the title Mother of Anesthesia Alice McGaw is known as the Mother of Anesthesia , a title given her by Dr . Charles Mayo

She was born in 1860 and little else can be found regarding her upbringing or schooling prior to 1893 . It was in this year that she became the nurse anesthetist to Drs William J .and Charles H . Mayo of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester , Minnesota

Nursing anesthesia was the first clinical nursing specialty and in the beginning consisted of predominately women . Factors attributing to this were low wages , most nurses were female and it was considered to be a deferential position with the surgeon in charge of it all